Roy Novinger, 94, living the simple life in the Ocala National Forest

Sunday

Feb 17, 2013 at 11:06 AM

He is the man who shot Ol' Slewfoot — for real.

By Rick AllenStaff writer

He is the man who shot Ol' Slewfoot — for real.Roy Novinger said he was only trying to protect the bees he and his brother positioned in the swampland just south of the Eureka Bridge when he fired a single shot from a borrowed shotgun into the belly of the behemoth black bear two days before Christmas in 1946."He stumbled off, you might say, just addled," as Novinger related the tale to a friend in 1999. "He made almost a full circle around us, staggering and almost falling. He finally came to a stop with his rear end toward us."After about half a minute, he just collapsed and fell," he added. "We walked up and looked him over, and that was a lot of bear."The meat alone weighed 360 pounds.Even Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote about the slaying of Ol' Slewfoot in "The Yearling" published eight years earlier, dropped by the Fort McCoy taxidermist shop to confirm the bear Novinger killed was, indeed, the terror of the forest, he said.In her novel, it is Penny — Jody's father — who drops the killer bear, in a story derived from tales of hunters the author collected around campfires in the forest.Novinger, 94, remembers the killing of Ol' Slewfoot as clearly now as he ever did. But then, he likes bear stories."And I got a lot of them," he said recently.A resident of the Ocala National Forest since he was 2, Novinger has lived in the house he built for himself and his wife, Eunice, back when John Kennedy was president."It started out as a hunting cabin and we just added to it," he said.Through his life in the forest, he has been a beekeeper, owned a saw mill and operated a small greenhouse operation. He still grows plots of veggies, much of which he shares with his neighbors and folks at his church."Through my life, I've tried everything possible to make an honest dollar," he said.He met Eunice at the saw mill when she came in one day with a load of lumber from her family's farm in Oxford. They married in 1940. Eunice died 11 years ago, and ever since, Roy has been living in the house with no heat or air conditioning, which many might consider indispensable.He's a genuine Cracker living a genuine Cracker lifestyle — hunting, fishing, growing veggies, helping pull out motorists stuck in the sugar sand of Hunters Haven, an enclave north of Forest Road 88, with his four-wheel drive truck."I should be, I lived here most of my life," he said.Novinger reads — mostly Westerns, Zane Gray and Louis L'Amour — and watches a bit of TV. He chops his own wood for the pot-bellied stove that provides his only heat."I do pretty good for about an hour, then I get pooped. After a bit of a break, I can go another hour or so," he said."I'm just enjoying life now," Novinger added. "I piddle around in the garden, go fishing; about the hardest thing I do is when I cut wood."His is a lifestyle some question, but others admire."God bless him," said Dr. Kathryn Hyer, an associate professor of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida and director of the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging.Despite all the amenities available nowadays for seniors, he is living his simple life "maybe because he wants to," she said."Without actually knowing him, he appears to be doing something important to him, living in a way he wants," Hyer said by phone from Tampa. "There are studies that suggest people live longer when they're active and engaged. He's obviously keeping himself active, both physically and mentally, and sharing with others. That's very good for long living."Novinger is rarely alone. Though he has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still around, perhaps his closest friends now are Hunters Haven neighbors Cindy Strong, who goes fishing with him, and Veronica Vaughan, who usually cooks their shared evening meal."I've known him since 2007," Vaughan said. "He's a very quiet man."On weekends, she takes Novinger shopping and to church, where he is still active."His garden is his pride and joy," Vaughan said."He's like family," she added. "He'll do anything for anyone."